Published 4:10 am, Saturday, February 1, 2014

Six months after the Legislature removed algebra II as a mandatory class for all high school students, the Texas Board of Education has responded. This week it authorized two new math courses designed to cover much of the same material offered in algebra II.

The two new courses, statistics and algebraic reasoning, serve as options to students who don't want to take algebra II.

Lawmakers made algebra II optional because of concerns that too many students who didn't need it after graduation couldn't pass it - and might drop out because of it.

But in many school districts, students could end up taking algebra II anyway. They are still required to take math courses, and their districts currently don't offer many alternative classes.

Statistics and algebraic reasoning are designed to fill that gap, but districts will need to make sure those options are available. If they don't, the original problem returns despite efforts to solve it.